SteveZee wrote:Oh boy Pierre! Glad that your back is "back". I thought that the picture was an old one. Well it will go fairly fast you'll see. It will the best it can be too.

Thanks Steve to come "back" on my "back" And you know that the only one "old" picture I have is from ME The next step for these parts is the sand blasting and I'm almost glad to be late on the scedule cause it will be certainly more confortable with colder temp. under the sand blasting gears. I never did sand blasting before. If someone have "tricks" for sand blasting, I would be very happy to use them. I will use the sand blasting equipment from my brothers in law at the farm. Not shure about the best pressure needed to make a good job

Make sure the blasting media is dry it will cause you problems if its even a little damp. For the pressure start low and see how it does if its not doing the job turn it up. What were you going to use for the blasting media?

carlherrnstein wrote:Make sure the blasting media is dry it will cause you problems if its even a little damp. For the pressure start low and see how it does if its not doing the job turn it up. What were you going to use for the blasting media?

Thanks for the reply carlherrnstein.When you say low pressure how much do you mean= 40, 60 or more to make the first tests? I bought 30-60 recycled glasses, is that OK for paint over rusted ( some parts are " deeply rusted" like an orange skin) ? If the media is damp( I think that it will not be but we never know), is there a way to dry it?One thing that bother me is because the sand blasting machine's nozel doesn't have a shut off device. Having so many parts, small and bigger, a stop valve would have make the job easier . But as I said I never did that job before and my brothers in law didn't made very much neither.

The higher the pressure the faster you will remove materiel, faster you will use the media (not a issue in a recycling blast cabinet), and more air you will use. Iv not used that media Im sure it will remove rust. I ran a sand blaster cleaning a tractor frame and just used quartz sandbox sand for the media id blast then sweep it up and put it back in the can to run it through again.

You will have to play with the pressure to get it so it will clean the metal but, you dont want to keep the compressor running constantly. There will be a balance between removing the rust and letting the compressor rest.

Hopefully you already thought of it but please us a good respirator before using any media, I never saw a blasted that didn't have a foot or hand shut off, it would be an easy enough thing to put a pipe valve on. From the blasting I've done it's mostly a trail & error type thing just keep moving it is possible to blast too much on thin stuff & start a hole.

carlherrnstein wrote:The higher the pressure the faster you will remove materiel, faster you will use the media (not a issue in a recycling blast cabinet), and more air you will use. Iv not used that media Im sure it will remove rust. I ran a sand blaster cleaning a tractor frame and just used quartz sandbox sand for the media id blast then sweep it up and put it back in the can to run it through again.

You will have to play with the pressure to get it so it will clean the metal but, you dont want to keep the compressor running constantly. There will be a balance between removing the rust and letting the compressor rest.

Thanks, the compressor will have to rest and probably the guy holding the nozzle The unit is not a cabinet model, so I will try as you said to find the right air adjustment to save as much media as possible while making a good job. I bought 2X 50 pounds bags, hope to have enough for all these parts, some are small like the mica's holders and some bigger like the base...

Last edited by nortcan on Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

samhill wrote:Hopefully you already thought of it but please us a good respirator before using any media, I never saw a blasted that didn't have a foot or hand shut off, it would be an easy enough thing to put a pipe valve on. From the blasting I've done it's mostly a trail & error type thing just keep moving it is possible to blast too much on thin stuff & start a hole.

Thanks samhill, are you really serious about the ""foot or hand shut off"" If so, would it be a good thing to wear rubber gears (gloves,boots)? I already got the respirators and the full head protector for that work? I'm planning to start with the base, a large part.I like the pipe valve idea

Yep, if not rubber a good pair of leather work gloves, if you have another person they could stand by to shut it off. Have you seen this unit, even a cheap one like I have from tractor supply has a trigger right at the nozzle if you do it on a concrete drive you can sweep up the sand run it thru a strainer & reuse it the biggest thing is keeping it dry.

There is a balancing of the amount of air pressure needed to pull the sand from the container if it is a suction feed blaster. If it is a pressure-pot blaster, then the balancing-act is even more touchy.. too much air and you've used up your air and sand way too fast,Too little pressure, and the sand won't feed from the pot, and you are just waving around an air hose.

I have a pressure pot blaster, and bought a shut off valve for the hose end, the original shut offs for both the sand and the air supply were too awkward to shut off and reset correctly each time you stopped to move parts around..

AND each time you blast with the media, the media gets smaller, and smoother.. If you sweep up the 'sand' several times and run it through the blaster, it gets like powder, more dust than sharp grit. and it's effectiveness at removing rust gets less and less.

I think you might get the blasting done with only 100# of sand, but I don't think so..

If you have a helper to hand you the pieces, and show you where to blast them, the inside of the blast hood gets fogged up with sweat, so it's hard to see after awhile..

You'll figure it all out, expect to have to experiment a bit at first,, soon you'll be an expert..

samhill wrote:Yep, if not rubber a good pair of leather work gloves, if you have another person they could stand by to shut it off. Have you seen this unit, even a cheap one like I have from tractor supply has a trigger right at the nozzle if you do it on a concrete drive you can sweep up the sand run it thru a strainer & reuse it the biggest thing is keeping it dry.

The unit is about 3F H with a big tank. Looks like a big one and my brother in law told me that the compressor needs to work hard when the demand is high on the sand blasting machine, a friend of him goes at the farm once in a while and uses the equipment. The compressor is a very big one but I don't have more infos on the material, I will send some photos of the sand b. machine and of the compressor when I will go to the farm.

Greg, thanks for the infos, very good things to know before starting the job. I will make the job outside so won't re-use the media. Anyways, at $9.99 a 50 P. bag, I will get a couple more and if not used, just give them to my brothers in law. That will be the pay for the equipment How are you doing with your nice small stove topped with an original finial? Hope to see the suite soon

nortcan wrote:Greg, thanks for the infos, very good things to know before starting the job. I will make the job outside so won't re-use the media. Anyways, at $9.99 a 50 P. bag, I will get a couple more and if not used, just give them to my brothers in law. That will be the pay for the equipment How are you doing with your nice small stove topped with an original finial? Hope to see the suite soon

The only thing I have ever sand blasted is locomotive tenders and railroad freight cars. I hated it, it severely affected my sinuses and my nose turned into a river. Sand is VERY bad for your lungs, please have the appropriate breathing apparatus to protect your self.

Pierre, Just knock the rust off each part. The orange peel look is there to stay if it's in the casting so don'y worry about that. Rust off, seal with polish or paint and your good to reassemble. Remember the karate kid? Rust on, Rust off.... or Rust off, polish/paint on.......

A real-true sandblasting outfit is a sealed hood with a separate air supply. Like an astronaut hood with flexible air supply hose. When I was doing a lot of sandblasting on an antique car frame, I hooked up a snorkle to EXHALE through, so the moist, warm air I was exhalingwent outside the hood, this just about eliminated the fogging on the inside of the hood's window. I'd inhale through my nose, the hood had a filtered intake, and exhale through the snorkle. A bit awkward, but it worked, and I could see what I was doing.

For smaller pieces, a sandblasting cabinet is wonderful.. keeps the dust, sand, dirt all inside the cabinet. You still have a hard time seeing the object you are sandblasting, because of the sand and dust inside the cabinet. but you can get the job done.

If your sandblaster is a suction feed, then it is like a paint spray gun, the air pulls the sand from the supply of sand, often if the sand is damp, orcontaminated with dirt or flakes of rust because it was reused sand swept up and put back in the sand resevoir, the suction feed gets clogged.. it'sa real pain in the butt at times to clean out the clogged sand. Sometimes just putting a [gloved] finger over the nozzle of the hose will cause the air to reverse and 'burp' the sand supply, and dislodge the clog. Sometimes you have to dump the sand and remove the clogging pieces.

ALWAYS pour the new or reused sand through a piece of window screen to catch the rust flakes, and other contaminants that will clog thesand resevoir outlet port.. This is experience talking !! A small piece of paper from the bags that the sand comes in can cause a LOT of headaches !!

A pressure pot blaster has a sealed sand resevoir, with air pressure forcing the sand out of the resevoir, mixing it with the high pressure, high velocityair in the blaster hose. As I mentioned before, getting the right mix of air pressure in the sand resevoir, and air pressure in the air/blaster hose and nozzle is a bit tricky. A lot of trial and error is to be expected..

And to add to the 'trial and error', as the compressor gets 'behind' the demand for compressed air, the air supply volume and pressure drops, so your'perfect mix' of sand and air changes.. And, when you compress moist air, the water tends to separate out, so you need to have a good water separator on the outlet of the air compressor, andkeep the compressor's air tank drained, so it doesn't collect water.. Water in the air supply causes air tools, sand blasters and painters all kinds of problems..